51吃瓜 of the Day
tintinnabulation
noun
the ringing or sound of bells.
More about tintinnabulation
Tintinnabulation is a fittingly tuneful term meaning 鈥渢he ringing or sound of bells.鈥� This noun was notably sounded by Edgar Allan Poe in his 1849 poem 鈥淭he Bells鈥�: 鈥淜eeping time 鈥� / To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells / From the bells, bells, bells, bells 鈥︹�� English tintinnabulation is formed on Latin 迟颈苍迟颈苍苍腻产耻濒耻尘 鈥渂别濒濒.鈥� 罢颈苍迟颈苍苍腻产耻濒耻尘 is composed of –bulum, a suffix that indicates agency, and 迟颈苍迟颈苍苍腻谤别 鈥渢o ring,鈥� a verb that apparently imitates the sound of jingling bells. And, if you can鈥檛 get rid of that ringing in your ears? You may have what medicine calls tinnitus 鈥渁 ringing or similar sensation of sound in the ears.鈥� Tinnitus is ultimately from a Latin verb related to 迟颈苍迟颈苍苍腻谤别: 迟颈苍苍墨谤别 鈥渢o ring, tinkle.鈥� Tintinnabulation entered English in the early 1800s.
how is tintinnabulation used?
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells / From the bells, bells, bells, bells / bells, bells, bells鈥� / From the jingling and tinkling of the bells.
I walked as fast as possible on one shoe toward the far-off tintinnabulation of the bells.
welter
noun
a confused mass; a jumble or muddle: a welter of anxious faces.
More about welter
The noun welter 鈥渃onfused mass; a jumble or muddle鈥� develops from the verb welter 鈥渢o roll, toss; writhe, tumble about.鈥� Found in English by the 1300s, the verb welter is a form of Middle English welten, Old English weltan 鈥渢o roll,鈥� cognate with Middle Dutch welteren and Low German weltern 鈥渢o roll.鈥� The specific form welter is known as a frequentative, which is a verb that expresses repetitive action, indicated by the suffix –er, as seen in such other verbs as flicker or shudder. Welter, then, has the meaning of rolling over again and again, as waves heaving in the sea or pigs wallowing in the mud, which gave rise to its noun senses, such as 鈥渃onfused mass.鈥� The noun welter is first recorded in English in the late 1500s.
how is welter used?
What traitors books can be! … Others can use them, too, and there you are, lost in the middle of the moor, in a great welter of nouns and verbs and adjectives.
peripeteia
noun
a sudden turn of events or an unexpected reversal, especially in a literary work.
More about peripeteia
Peripeteia comes from Greek 辫别谤颈辫茅迟别颈补 鈥渟udden change.鈥� 笔别谤颈辫茅迟别颈补 has a literal sense of 鈥渇alling around,鈥� composed of the prefix peri– 鈥渁bout, around,鈥� pet-, base of 辫铆辫迟别颈苍 鈥渢o fall,鈥� and –eia, a noun-forming suffix. In his Poetics, Aristotle describes peripeteia as the turning point in the plot of a tragedy where the protagonist experiences a sudden, surprising, and often ironic reversal of fortune, such as when, in Sophocles鈥檚 Oedipus Rex, Oedipus discovers鈥攕poiler alert鈥攈e killed his father and married his mother. This critical moment of recognition or discovery had a name in ancient Greek tragedy, too: anagnorisis.
how is peripeteia used?
Mr. Weld’s political peripeteia鈥攚hich, as a student of the classics, he would recognize as the point in a drama when a sudden reversal occurs鈥攕eems to have come during his second term as governor of Massachusetts.
Bendjelloul鈥檚 documentary is delicately balanced on an iceberg-sized peripeteia that is easily spoiled, so if you want to see this movie … read no further.